Leaders at NACA say their programs are designed to remove barriers that many Latino and other minority buyers face.
CHAMBLEE, Ga. — Buying a home can be one of life’s biggest milestones — but for many Latino families, the process can feel out of reach.
That was the case for 26-year-old Nathaly Hernandez, an immigrant from Mexico who now calls southwest Atlanta home.
“Approaching something like this as big as buying a house is very intimidating,” she said. “It’s such a huge milestone, especially for my family, because of all the sacrifice that everybody made for us to even be here in this country.”
After saving for five years, Hernandez turned to NACA, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a nonprofit that helps first-time buyers navigate the often complicated path to homeownership.
“They break everything down for you,” Hernandez explained. “Their mortgage process has no down payment, no closing costs.”
Leaders at NACA said their programs are designed to remove barriers that many Latino and other minority buyers face, from strict credit score requirements to hidden fees.
“The barriers which NACA has been able to break over the years are biases and racism, restrictive underwriting, high savings,” Leah Watterson rattled off. She’s the organization’s training director. “We use what you pay for rent as the baseline of what you can afford for a mortgage payment.”
According to the State of the Latino Community in Georgia report, about 55% of Hispanic and Latino households in the state are owner-occupied, compared to nearly 78% of white households.
Still, advocates say the numbers are moving in the right direction and programs like NACA’s are helping more families build generational wealth.
“When you realize that often you can get in a house paying less than what you’re paying for rent, it’s a dream come true,” Watterson said.
For Hernandez, that dream is now her everyday reality, proof that with the right support, homeownership doesn’t have to stay out of reach.
